Genre: Steampunk romanceEben "Mad" Machen, Captain of the ship Vesuvius, has been hunting for Ivy Blacksmith for two years. She made a deal with him; her body in exchange for passage out of London. But she reneged with the assistance of the captain of the airship Lady Corsair, for the price of a future favor. Mad Machen has a very difficult job, and The Blacksmith (the head of the blacksmith guild) told him and Captain Corsair only Ivy could figure it out. So they go to the small town where Ivy lives and Captain Corsair (who knew all along where she was) calls in the favor. Ivy ends up on Vesuvius in order to redesign a mechanical kraken Vesuvius' blacksmith had built. Captain Machen still wants Ivy, but she pays him a denier (the smaller unit of monetary measure) every night not to force her to have sex. She has 8 denier, and the journey they are taking is 20 days long. So, over the course of the journey, she must pay, or somehow barter, with him not to take her, and he is willing to allow this so maybe she'll start to trust that he wants to make love, not just have sex. There's adventure along the way, as well as a dip into the mystery that plays a part in some of the books in The Iron Seas series, though this novella can stand alone.I really enjoyed this novella, though I think the plot would have allowed a book-length story. I read it first on my Kindle, but then I saw it on sale at audible.com and decided I'd give it a listen. It was on my re-read list anyway. This story gives a concise picture of who Eben Machen is, and over the course of it, how he got the addition of "Mad" to his name. There's also a good explanation of who Ivy is, and why she is important to the project. The writing is excellent. So many writers tell the who and what of their stories, but Brook shows you through action and dialogue. Truly an enjoyable experience. The audio is good too. Faye Adele gives a good performance, with excellent character differentiation and pacing. The production team edited well, cutting out those irritatingly noticeable respirations of the performer. Here There Be Monsters is a really nice short read with Eben {Mad Machen} and Ivy as the main characters and the orginal first introduction of Yasmeen {Heart of Steel heroine}, who with this little glimpse I liked but didn't like at the same time. Ivy wakes up in the middle of the night frozen like during the days of Horde rule and decides it's best to get out of England and propositions Eben to help her leave. However, Eben's plans are thwarted until two years later when the Blacksmith wants Ivy to help on a project and Eben is sent to find her and get her to make the project work. I really enjoyed the banter between Ivy and Eben and the misunderstanding they had between them. Eben is a great character and hope to see them both in another book at some point even as minor secondary characters as I think they were both wonderfully written. Great short story and introduction to the start of the Iron Seas series.
What do You think about Here There Be Monsters (2011)?
Very fun, but short. I wish it was a full novel!
—trffrt
